george.felix
George
We were a last minute entry for several reasons.....we found part of the oiler tube on our drain plug after SS which meant motor work. Our trans was being rebuilt so we put in a used one and the biggest obstacle was we didn't have a full team since we hadn't planned to race. But we came anyway for no other reason than some said we had ZERO chance and questioned if we even belonged in Baja. Now on a mission we assembled a team from local racers in Ensenada and headed South. Weller said they could look at our motor which turned out to be relatively minor but when they tested it we had stuck a valve. Pull the motor down and several hoops later it was running. Tested again and ran great right up to the driveway and stuck an injector open. The Weller boys called a buddy and drove to his house and came back with 2 injectors. In the meantime, a lady tried to run thru my old hillbilly trailer but just totaled her front end. Finally headed to Ensenada to meet our "Ameri-Mex" team. We hadn't set the crossovers or ride height after getting revalved from Fox so this was our first team task. Normally you run the car to bounce the suspension to measure but we had Tiny who could bottom out the car with just his forearms.....dude is freakish strong!
The start was delayed initially we were told a kid was killed under a truck. Rumors were flying but that's the word we got and both my co driver and I looked at each other and said we really don't feel much like racing. It was a sick stomach kinda feeling. Then we heard he was ok just a broken leg....great news! Rolling forward to the start we forgot to turn on the go pro and a guy from Desert Toyz helped us out...thanks! We started 21 out if 23 I believe and finally was our turn and we took it slow given the events of the day to that point. About rm 10 we started to pick it up until we hit the first bottleneck. Motorcycle instincts kinda took over at this point and I tried to sneak by on the right side of all the backed up cars mowing down bushes as my co drivers screaming at me..."George you can't do this stop!" I finally came to my senses and ducked into line 2-3 cars up from where I should have been. I'm sure it was a move not appreciated by those waiting....sorry! After 20-30 min it's cleared and we run thru section but I couldn't see jack till be came out the other side. It wasn't long till we hit the second bottleneck but this time I passed on the previous dick move and just waited. Once it was cleared up the race was on and the car was running great. We passed like 15 cars both on the course and in the pits or broke up to about RM 130. My siren didn't work but cars we caught knew we were there and all rabbited but none escaped. The Alba Racing Rzr 900 1915 car showed it's not your grandmas 900. The cars faster than I expected and it was like a Red Baron and Mad Max dogfight. Turns out they were Mad Max and we got by them but was fun racing them. I'll be honest I've never nerfed anyone before but my co driver insisted we had to or just wait forever so we did tap a few cars but one in particular we hit a lot harder than I intended. It turned out to be the 1949 car and later heard they had no brakes. Honestly I'm not sure how it happened but it did and I'm very sorry about that. I think some damage to the rear I heard later. The driver knows it was me and I've contacted him. I can hear the comments already but it was Utv on Utv not a more sizable car. The only comment I have about this is if your caught don't rabbit and I'd be patient for you to pull off. If you run then I don't see that as conceding and it's on. Still I let the cars ahead run a ways and only after some time on their bumper did I tap them. I'll admit being new to this so I have mixed feelings but I get how it happens now.....Victor..
Still I prefer there was no need for it. Enough said.
Anyhow we did our thing thru the nasty whoops out of Rumorosa and then when we hit the smooth silt I relaxed a little too much and ran over a bush like so many others but this one had a huge pile of sand under it and we rolled over and back onto our wheels. What happened next is nothing short of a miracle nobody got hurt. So this VW is the only car to pass us in the race but apparently we passed them back in the pits and didn't know they were close behind in our dust stream and closing fast at 70 mph. What they didn't expect was us to crash in front of them and they slammed hard into us. This was a very violent hit. Just seconds later we would have been exiting the car and would have been ugly. I can't remember anything beyond hitting the bush. I remember being confused how the back end got so damaged etc. My co driver said he told me but I don't have any recollection. We spent the night in the desert and got out the next day. On my way back to San Diego I was getting text asking if we got hit and I said no. This came from several people and I was wondering wtf they taking about.....then I start getting tagged on FB. Finally I saw the video and I was shocked this actually happened and I was clueless. I'm sure mild concussion explains it. Lesson is don't get out of your car until the dust clears. Inside is the safest place to be. The Ameri-Mex team was incredibly awesome! They handled a really bad situation in the best way imaginable.....couldn't ask for more competent guys! In the end i let down for one second and cost our team a possible podium spot. I'm told we were in 4th on time and 5th physically when I brain farted. To those that said no chance and we weren't tough enough or whatever I just want to say thank you for the inspiration..
Oh yeah what one old man can do another even older old man can do just maybe not quite as well.....yet! Hasta los Tacos! See you at V2r.
Video of the crash....
https://www.facebook.com/gabriel.avina.17/videos/978591918841527/
The start was delayed initially we were told a kid was killed under a truck. Rumors were flying but that's the word we got and both my co driver and I looked at each other and said we really don't feel much like racing. It was a sick stomach kinda feeling. Then we heard he was ok just a broken leg....great news! Rolling forward to the start we forgot to turn on the go pro and a guy from Desert Toyz helped us out...thanks! We started 21 out if 23 I believe and finally was our turn and we took it slow given the events of the day to that point. About rm 10 we started to pick it up until we hit the first bottleneck. Motorcycle instincts kinda took over at this point and I tried to sneak by on the right side of all the backed up cars mowing down bushes as my co drivers screaming at me..."George you can't do this stop!" I finally came to my senses and ducked into line 2-3 cars up from where I should have been. I'm sure it was a move not appreciated by those waiting....sorry! After 20-30 min it's cleared and we run thru section but I couldn't see jack till be came out the other side. It wasn't long till we hit the second bottleneck but this time I passed on the previous dick move and just waited. Once it was cleared up the race was on and the car was running great. We passed like 15 cars both on the course and in the pits or broke up to about RM 130. My siren didn't work but cars we caught knew we were there and all rabbited but none escaped. The Alba Racing Rzr 900 1915 car showed it's not your grandmas 900. The cars faster than I expected and it was like a Red Baron and Mad Max dogfight. Turns out they were Mad Max and we got by them but was fun racing them. I'll be honest I've never nerfed anyone before but my co driver insisted we had to or just wait forever so we did tap a few cars but one in particular we hit a lot harder than I intended. It turned out to be the 1949 car and later heard they had no brakes. Honestly I'm not sure how it happened but it did and I'm very sorry about that. I think some damage to the rear I heard later. The driver knows it was me and I've contacted him. I can hear the comments already but it was Utv on Utv not a more sizable car. The only comment I have about this is if your caught don't rabbit and I'd be patient for you to pull off. If you run then I don't see that as conceding and it's on. Still I let the cars ahead run a ways and only after some time on their bumper did I tap them. I'll admit being new to this so I have mixed feelings but I get how it happens now.....Victor..
Still I prefer there was no need for it. Enough said.Anyhow we did our thing thru the nasty whoops out of Rumorosa and then when we hit the smooth silt I relaxed a little too much and ran over a bush like so many others but this one had a huge pile of sand under it and we rolled over and back onto our wheels. What happened next is nothing short of a miracle nobody got hurt. So this VW is the only car to pass us in the race but apparently we passed them back in the pits and didn't know they were close behind in our dust stream and closing fast at 70 mph. What they didn't expect was us to crash in front of them and they slammed hard into us. This was a very violent hit. Just seconds later we would have been exiting the car and would have been ugly. I can't remember anything beyond hitting the bush. I remember being confused how the back end got so damaged etc. My co driver said he told me but I don't have any recollection. We spent the night in the desert and got out the next day. On my way back to San Diego I was getting text asking if we got hit and I said no. This came from several people and I was wondering wtf they taking about.....then I start getting tagged on FB. Finally I saw the video and I was shocked this actually happened and I was clueless. I'm sure mild concussion explains it. Lesson is don't get out of your car until the dust clears. Inside is the safest place to be. The Ameri-Mex team was incredibly awesome! They handled a really bad situation in the best way imaginable.....couldn't ask for more competent guys! In the end i let down for one second and cost our team a possible podium spot. I'm told we were in 4th on time and 5th physically when I brain farted. To those that said no chance and we weren't tough enough or whatever I just want to say thank you for the inspiration..
Oh yeah what one old man can do another even older old man can do just maybe not quite as well.....yet! Hasta los Tacos! See you at V2r.
Video of the crash....
https://www.facebook.com/gabriel.avina.17/videos/978591918841527/
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